The present invention relates to a manufacturing system which is capable of receiving an order from a customer and manufacture the order. More particularly, the invention relates to an order manufacturing system and an order manufacturing method which is able to define a specification in keeping with the requirement of a customer, as is compatible with the efficiency of the manufacturing system itself and, further manufacture the orders issued by a customer based on the defined specification.
As the conventional system for flexibly changing the manufacturing method according to various kinds of products, the manufacturing system for implementing the proper manufacturing methods for various kinds of product has been proposed in JP-A-56-102455. This manufacturing system includes a modularized compound producing system, an information processing system for managing a production process and schedule, and a control system for controlling each device included in the compound production system based on the information supplied by the information processing system.
The conventional manufacturing system has been configured on the assumption that the specification of product to be manufactured is pre-defined and has been intended for efficient manufacturing of the product with pre-defined specification. In these days, however, each customer is likely to have his or her own need for product. Hence, the recent key point of the manufacturing system lies in that the product designed according to each customer's specification is allowed to be manufactured as efficiently as possible. In defining the specification of product, if the specification is defined merely on the requirement of the customer, some disadvantageous conditions may appear such as difficulty in producing the product and less efficient use of equipment, resulting in an increase in the product price too much. If the specification of the product does not meet the requirement of a customer, production is discontinued.